A Royal World Apart

Her lips curved upward into a smug smile. “Did you see the women at the slot machines in front? The ones who make change for patrons?”

He shook his head once. “No.”

“Ah. Well, your guard did. Or more specifically, he noticed the fact that the necklines of their dresses were cut down to their navels. I took the opportunity to slip in back. He must have assumed I’d gone out front, as he’d suggested.”

Mak clenched his teeth. “He was deluded. Naive enough to believe you would do as commanded.”

Evangelina raised her eyebrows, her expression overly innocent. “Indeed.”

“I am not.”

One side of her mouth quirked upward. “I noticed.”

He regarded her for a moment. She had a feline quality to her. Lithe, graceful and more than ready to bare her claws if the need presented itself. He could see how she’d managed to intimidate the palace guards, how she’d managed to dupe his men.

She would not do the same to him.

“I would recommend, printzyessa, that you come with me.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Your father will hear of this,” he said.

She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. Now, her breasts he noticed. She wasn’t showing off every bit of skin she could get away with and still be considered dressed. And it made her figure all the more enticing for it. It made him wonder. Made him wonder if she was golden all over. Made him wonder what her breasts would look like, uncovered for him.

He clenched his hands into fists, battling the images that flashed through his mind. He didn’t let women distract him. Ever.

This was an aberration. As unusual as it was unwanted. It would not happen again.

“I’m not all that concerned over my father hearing about this. What will he do? Lock me in the dungeon? Or perhaps he’ll marry me off to a stranger at his convenience? We both know he won’t do the former, and he’s actively attempting to accomplish the latter.”

“I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you out. If your designer heels don’t make it …” he shrugged, “it’s not my problem.”

Her dark eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t.”

He took a step toward her. She didn’t shrink, didn’t step away. “You don’t think?”

She regarded him for a moment. “I’ll allow you to escort me out.”

He reached out and took hold of her arm, running his fingers over her smooth skin, her flesh hot beneath his palm. He pulled her to him, linking their arms. He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. “I will allow you to leave on your own two feet.”

She turned to face him, deep brown eyes blazing with defiance. “Good for both of us, as I imagine the alternative would not have ended well. For you or for me.”

“Then it’s good you chose the right option.” He held tightly to her arm, leading her from the room. She kept her chin tipped up, her neck craned, likely so she could look down her nose. It gave her a haughty, untouchable air. It made all of the men in the room practically fall at her feet.

They breezed through the foyer and back out into the damp night air. Salt spray lingered, thick and pungent and the sound of the sea could be heard roaring in the distance. He opened the passenger door to his car.

“In,” he commanded.

She complied, stiffly, her posture rigid as she settled into the vehicle, her eyes fixed straight in front of her. He rounded the car and got into the driver’s side, revving the engine and pulling away from the curb, heading in the direction of the palace.

“So,” she said, her voice conversational, “you won’t tell my father?”

“No.” It wouldn’t benefit anyone to bring the king into this.

“I might tell him,” she said, her tone still light, casual. Obnoxious.

“Why is that?”

“As I said, he won’t do anything about it. He has no leverage. At least, as far as what he can do to me. Now you … he may fire you.”

Makhail tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “He won’t.”

“Really?”

“No. He won’t. I fired Ivan, and now I personally will be guarding you. Your father knows that there isn’t anyone better suited to the job.”

“Does he?” she said, her tone flat.

“Your palace guards can’t keep tabs on you, and they cannot be distracted from issues of national security to deal with a brat who has no interest in her own safety. That leaves me. I am in the unique business of guarding royalty when the built-in protection of a nation proves to be ineffective. And I never make mistakes. It’s regrettable that one of my employees did.”

“Two,” she said.

“What?”

“Two of your employees did.” She reinforced the figure by holding up a matching number of fingers. “I’ve given two of them the slip while they were busy rubbernecking some woman’s figure.”

“Former,” he said.

“What?”

“Former employees. They lacked discipline, and that means I have no room for them among my staff. You may not realize this, as your spoiled tendencies keep you from looking too far outside of yourself, but this is about more than image.”

“Is it? I thought it was mainly about making sure I didn’t look unsuitable to possible fiancés.”

“This is about your safety. You are an important piece of political power, printzyessa.”

“Am I?” She injected false, breathless surprise into her voice. “And here I thought I was just Evangelina.”

“When a title is involved, no one is ‘just’ anything.”

She turned to face him, the indicator the sound of her clothes sliding over the leather. He didn’t turn to look at her. Didn’t take his eyes of the road. “Except I am. I am just a political pawn.”

“An important one,” he said.

She snorted and he heard her flop back against her seat. “What more could a girl ask for?”

Eva felt as though she was going to crawl out of her skin. Her arm still burned from where Makhail had touched her, and she was so angry she thought she might actually fold in on herself. Yes, she was being outrageous and she knew it. But it was her power. Her only power.